Dataset Downloads

New datasets are continually being added to SOSx and real-time datasets are being updated regularly. Defaults have been set for automatic data downloads, but you have the ability to change them to meet your site’s needs. All dataset downloads require the computer to have an internet connection.

If you want to manually update the datasets, you can do this by selecting Sync Datasets in the SOS Explorer folder found in the Windows Start menu under All Programs.

Most real-time datasets show new imagery either hourly or daily so that you can display current events. They are synced every time the software is idle. The time it takes for the software to be considered idle is defined by kioskTimeoutSec in the config file, which by default is set to 7 minutes. Once idle, the real-time datasets are synced by default every 30 minutes, as defined by the refreshLocalDatasetsSec option in the config file. Other real-time datasets (such as real-time earthquakes) attempt to download the latest data each time the dataset is loaded and require an Internet connection.

If the Schedule syncing of datasets Tuesday at 9:00AM checkbox was left checked during the setup process all other datasets are updated every Tuesday at 9:00am through the Windows task scheduler. When the data download is happening, it’s possible that you will see a decline in performance for the SOSx software. If you plan on leaving the computer on all the time, you can set this download to occur in the middle of the night to avoid potential performance issues.

If your computer happens to be off at 9:00am on Tuesday, you can use the manual sync described above to get any new datasets that you are missing.

The scheduled task can be modified by starting the Task Scheduler found in the Start menu.

Double-clicking on the SOSx Full Dataset Sync task pulls up the properties.

Click on Properties in the Actions bar on the right to edit the task.

The Triggers tab will let you change the time and frequency of the scheduled full dataset sync.